Culture

Athens Film Fest Brings Animation to Local Libraries

Posted on: Monday, March 21, 2016

Libraries are known for awakening our imaginations. Barry O’Keefe, an artist and graduate student at Ohio University, will add to this tradition when he hosts a traveling “Exploring Animation” roadshow at four branches of the Athens County Public Libraries later this month.

Six animation shorts chosen by O’Keefe as part of a semester-long archival independent study with the Athens International Film + Video Festival (AIFVF) will be shown on an old-fashioned reel-to-reel projector. Between films, he plans to explain and sometimes demo the basics of how each film was made, and to highlight animation resources in the libraries’ collection.

“The showings are organized around different styles of animation, especially styles that aren’t used that much, and others that are associated with only one or two artists who really mastered them,” O’Keefe, who is originally from Richmond Virginia, shared. These styles include paper cutout animation, as well as pin screen animation, a method developed in the 1930s that makes images using shadows cast by thousands of tiny metal pins.

Primarily a printmaking artist, O’Keefe said he is interested in making art more accessible. He came up with the idea of bringing films into the county after being encouraged by AIFVF director David Colagiovanni to consider a community-minded project. “We didn’t have a clear plan— we just wanted to do something cool in the community,” O’Keefe said. After volunteering with the Shadetree Bike Co-op and finding out its members had led workshops at local library buildings, O’Keefe was inspired to put together a similar, multi-branch program.

Len Lye film still from "Rainbow Dance," 1936. Courtesy Len Lye Foundation, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand Film Archive. — Len Lye film still from “Rainbow Dance,” 1936. Courtesy Len Lye Foundation, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, New Zealand Film Archive.

Two of O’Keefe’s aunts are librarians in Flint, Michigan. “They talked to me about how libraries are not just about books. They are this catch-all social institution that helps people apply to jobs and gives Internet access to people who don’t have it, and it’s the only place where you can organize a meeting for free. And I already loved the library here,” he said, referring to the Athens branch. “It seems like one of the best-run organizations in Athens, with a beautiful building and just a nice place to hang out.”

Much of O’Keefe’s recent work has been publicly engaged. In 2015, he also spearheaded a striking public mural just a few buildings down from the main county library branch in Nelsonville. Depicting patterns first used in area brick kilns, it was completed with the help of artist Nate Schirmer and commissioned by the Historic Downtown Nelsonville Association in partnership with Rocky Brands.

The spring animation roadshow represents an opportunity for the Athens International Film + Video Festival to bring their collection into the larger community. “We’re excited to begin this new educational outreach initiative and hope to continue a screening series every year,” Colagiovanni said.

All ages are invited to attend the “Exploring Animation” screenings at the Athens Public Library on Thursday, March 24 from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.; at the Chauncey Public Library on Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m.; at the Nelsonville Public Library on Monday, March 28 at 4:30 p.m.; and at the Wells (Albany) Public Library on Wednesday, April 6 at 4 p.m. More information can be found at myacpl.org/events/. This year’s Athens International Film + Video Festival takes place April 4-10.